Bigfoot Sightings Return to East Fresno County, California

Is Fresno the Bigfoot capitol of California? How about the U.S.? The number of Sasquatch sightings in Fresno and East Fresno County would suggest it’s in the running for both and that number just increased by at least one with a new appearance in a familiar area of up to six creatures.

KMPH Fox 26 news was the first to publish reports of the latest Bigfoot sighting. Jeffrey Gonzalez, local paranormal exert and host of Paranormal Central (on a Fresno channel associated with Fox 26) came in with the info. He claims to have been contacted by a farmer living near Avocado Lake in Piedra, 23 miles east of Fresno. (Avocado Lake is well-known for a number of mysterious drownings – coincidence?) Gonzales says the farmer claimed to have seen five or six Bigfoot, possibly a family, running across his property during the night.

“One of them, which was extremely tall, had a pig over its shoulder. And the five scattered and the one with the pig was running so fast it didn’t see an irrigation pipe and it tripped, with the pig flying over.”

No word on the pig or the Bigfoot gang and, unfortunately, no pictures or videos. However, that should encourage wannabe Bigfoot photographers looking for fame because Gonzalez says this is the third Bigfoot sighting in this East Fresno County area in the past five year, and there have been plenty more in the general Fresno prior to that.

Bigfoot photo? (Paranormal Central)

Gonzales claims he was contacted in 2012 by a woman whose sons saw a Bigfoot in their orchard. A few years later, another person claimed to have spotted five Bigfoot in the same orchard, and Gonzales says the latest sighting is within a couple miles from the orchard. Their reputed love of apples could explain why the creatures like this orchard, but what about the other Fresno and central California sightings?

“I believe there are a lot more people out there who have seen things and are keeping it inside themselves. They don’t want to go out and tell people, they don’t want to be ridiculed. They don’t want to be made fun of.”

That didn’t stop people in 2008 who told a local ABC station what they saw. Bill Compton said he’d seen footprints in the Sequoia National Forest in Southeastern Fresno County and the Bigfoot Field Research Organization listed 17 sightings (now 18, and that doesn’t include those from Gonzales) in Fresno. The interview also mention stories by local Native Americans about a Bigfoot creature in the Sierra Mountains with two names depending on if it was seen in the mountains (Kooseekoosnow) or the foothills (Kakownow, Kakownah).

(Paranormal Central)

That’s a lot of activity in a small area. If it’s not Sasquatch, what is it? Jeffrey Gonzalez thinks Bigfoot is back and told people to stop keeping their experiences bottled up and instead send them to him. Then again, he has a weekly show to fill. But the other sightings, along with the photos, footprint casts and other items in his collection suggest you chances of seeing or finding something Bigfoot related are high in East Fresno County.

For the sake of the rest of us, please take a GOOD camera that you know how to use.

Paul Seaburn is the editor at Mysterious Universe and its most prolific writer. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. His “What in the World!” podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.